The Jordan River begins north of the Sea of Galilee on Mount Hermon, forming the border between Lebanon and Syria. It flows about 156 miles through the Jordan Valley, from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. When the river flows from Jordan, the Dead Sea has no exit points, hence why it is called the Dead Sea. Water from the river evaporates.
One of the smallest places in Jordan’s width and depth—32 feet wide and 6.5 feet deep—the Jordan has five dams that channel most of the water now. January–March is the wet season, and the river is greater and lesser depending on the time of year.
Naaman, the leper captain of the Syrian Army, found the Jordan River (2 Kings 5:14–17). He was commanded by Elisha to go to Jordan and was miraculously healed after dipping seven times.
Israel crosses Jordan.
Joshua 3: Israel, commanded by Joshua, crossed Jordan; they didn’t wait until summer, when the water was low, but God took them over when Jordan overflowed its banks. The Bible says they went over on dry ground. The riverbed dried when the priest’s feet hit the water, carrying the ark of his presence. Imagine that one day they were washing clothes on the banks of the river, and the next day they walked across dry ground.
Jesus is baptized in Jordan.
Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John in Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus visits Jordan again.
John 10: 40 The Believers Beyond Jordan And he went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there he stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.
One thing is for sure: as you follow the river, regardless of its name, anytime Jesus is involved, the miraculous is involved.
Ezekiel’s gospel chapters 40–48 speak of the millennial temple, the 1,000-year reign of Christ upon the earth. During the millennium, glorified saints from the present age will live in contact with natural human beings who will still need to decide for Christ to be saved—and many will choose not to trust Him. The sacrificial system described in Ezekiel cannot be for the forgiveness of sins, for Christ has accomplished that once and for all.
Hebrews 10:1-3
1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never, with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then, would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
Worshipers need purification daily: let the spirit of God purify you and make you the perfect worshiper.
In the millennial temple, the sacrifices are seen as memorials of Christ’s death or as rites for the ceremonial cleansing of the temple, but not as a means to forgive sins. The river can clean you, but it cannot forgive you. Only the blood of Jesus can forgive you and wipe away your sins. The Holy Spirit brings the blood of Jesus to wash you of the filth of the flesh. To resist the Holy Spirit is to resist cleansing.
Baptism is to clean your act up, telling the world what Jesus did in your heart.
We are going to have a baptism soon, and this church in 2024 is cleaning up its act. We are following the river. John had an attraction to the river; it’s a place of cleansing. Jesus, who had no sin, told John I just needed to be baptized; he is saying this flesh houses God and is completely sinless, but still needs to be washed. To fulfill all righteousness, Jesus was attracted to the river. Listen to Jesus. As long as you are trapped in the body, you will need cleansing; you and I must be washed.
My attraction to the spirit is the cleansing he brings, and when you are baptized, he gets the whole body, including the tongue.
John’s attraction to the river was cleansing; John couldn’t forgive sin, and when the Spirit came, he brought the cleansing power.
Do you have an attraction to the spirit? Are you a river man? God has set an open door for 2024.
Revelation 3:8 (NKJV) “I know your work. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
This church is a river church; we refuse to be a dirty church; we refuse to be a dead church. I’m grateful because he flows through me.
I’m a worshiper; purify me, Jesus, so I’m no more conscious of sin, dead to sin (Alive unto God).
I want to be one of the river raiders who takes no for an answer. I want to pull you into this Holy Ghost River when you are around us. I want to smell like a river, baptized in fire. When you’re a river man, your tongue becomes a weapon.
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
In 2024, I want us to speak life to a dead church. Dead marriages and lost children are coming.
Pull your family into the river, and let your home be a place where the river of God touches earth.
This church is the landing place where you board the river of the Holy Spirit.
The river flows through this church, and if I’m the watchman, the river of the Holy Spirit will flow through us. We are not the Dead Sea.
Today it’s time to loose the river. There are doors the Spirit of God is opening; find the courage to step through those doors—doors to your finances, doors to health, doors to recovering what has been stolen. Today, the Holy Spirit is closing doors—doors to depression, doors of bondage, doors to bad relationships.
Speak to the doors.